Clean Up Your Presence Across Health, Household and Beauty

Trading conditions are never easy but with the latest economics figures, continued Brexit uncertainty, legislative changes and increased competition it is more important than ever to stay ahead of the game. We are seeing shopper behaviours evolve and some of the traditional convenience categories are slipping away in importance. Our latest deep dive into the health, household and beauty (HHB) categories suggests that there is still a wealth of opportunity for retailers and suppliers to capitalise on.

The study looks in detail at the types of shopper that are attracted in to convenience and discounters channel for the HHB categories. We have explored the demographics in detail and found clear differences across the channels, for example, older shoppers are more likely to shop the HHB categories in discounters than c-stores. These differences are key to business when building there strategy across different channels and the key shopper demographics to target.

Understanding the reason that drives shoppers in to the stores specifically to buy HHB categories is extremely interesting, the reasons can range from stock up mission, to immediate consumption/use and impulse missions. Our research identifies key differences in shopper missions between each of the three categories and the channels look into. In general, the convenience channel is a lot more likely to be used for immediate and distress purchases, which is not always reflected in ranging and communication in store.

To maximise success in any category it is key to understand the key drivers of footfall. Our HHB category deep dive explores the footfall drivers for each category and highlights the areas where brands and retailers need to act in order to maximise their potential across the sector. It is fascinating to see how this changes by category and actually surprising how important in some cases those categories are. Some of the barriers that we have seen in this area are around shopper perception; they do not always know that they can buy HHB categories in their local convenience stores.

Acting on the footfall drivers recognised will help stores grow basket spend, size and frequency of shop. Our deep dive looks into these KPIs and more to see how they differ across each category. We compare the HHB shopper to the average c-store and discounter shopper, highlighting the potential this category has. This area of our research creates many discussion points on the importance of the categories. For example, the research identifies the average spend of health & beauty shoppers in convenience as over £8, which is a lot higher compared to the average basket.

The real way to drive sales in the HHB categories is by improving shopper satisfaction metrics when they shop for those items. We covered a plethora of shopper satisfaction metrics in our latest study, from ease of shop to importance of price. It was very interesting to see that choice of different products was one of the factors that shoppers scored lower on compared to others. This shows that something as simple as stocking the right range can grow your satisfaction ratings and your sales. The challenge, as always, is identifying those products that are in demand.

If you are focusing on convenience channel, you know that understanding the shopper and making the offer right to the shopper is extremely important. However, this is not the only thing. Naturally, a very important stakeholder is the independent/symbol retailer who is ultimately making ranging decisions in his/her store. Our latest research explores the whole 360 degrees and focuses on the independent retailers as well. We have asked questions around what they stock, the importance of various categories and what support/advice are the retailers looking for from suppliers and field sales.

With the industry experiencing widespread change, it is important to explore new avenues and opportunities. Our HHB study in convenience & discounters channel arms you with the latest shopper and retailer research to succeed in those categories.